On Sworld: Report and reflections on an artistic research into how audio can evoke human experiences of absence, ghosts and lost memories, explored through performance and composed walks
(2025)
author(s): Alexander Holm
published in: Rhythmic Music Conservatory, Copenhagen
Alexander Holm have been developing the artistic research project 'Sworld' on the APD program at RMC in Copenhagen 2021-2024. The project seeks to explore how simultaneous experience of sounds with- and without a visible cause can evoke human experiences of ghosts, absence and lost memories. The project researches and expands on composer and theorist Michel Chion's audio visual concept of Synch Points, examined through a versatile compositional praxis including choreography, text, voice, walks and live performance.
ENHEAR
(2022)
author(s): Carolina Jinde
published in: Stockholm University of the Arts (SKH)
ENHEAR
a way of being
a state of mind
a field of enquiry
exploring the creative and collaborative potentials of sound centric strategies in film and media-based contexts
The term enhear invites an approach to research, art practice, sound studio and world that is comprehensively aural. It proposes listening as both act and role; listening as a present tense, continual and continuous co-creation of the inter-relational spaces we all share. Drawing on the specific expertise and orientation of the sound engineer in film and media-based production, the research unfolds as a series of interrelated experiments and reflections, exploring enhear via a diverse range of artistic approaches, collaborative methods and pedagogical practices. Each sub-project brings particular attention to the auditory perspective, a radically underutilised element within the visually dominated context of film and media. This project contends that consciously incorporating attentive and inclusive listening practices into the lifecycle of creative processes will make considerable artistic, ethical and practical contributions to film and media-based productions; further utilising the expertise, raising the profile and expanding the practices of the sound engineer.
Using Participatory Visualization of Soundscapes to compare Designers’ and Listeners’ Experiences of Sound Designs
(2018)
author(s): Iain McGregor
published in: Journal of Sonic Studies
There are numerous rules and well-established guidelines to help designers with the visual appearance of interactive technologies. In contrast, when it comes to the use of sound, there is a paucity of practical information regarding design for euphony, excepting musical composition. This paper addresses this hiatus by describing a theoretically based, practical method for evaluating the design of the auditory components of interactive technologies and media. Specifically, the method involves eliciting the auditory experiences of users of these technologies and media and comparing them with what the sound designers had intended. The method has been comprehensively tested in trials involving 100 users (listeners), and the results have been described as “useful” and “invaluable” by a group of 10 professional sound designers.
Alarming Atmospheres - Embodied Sound Habituation as Design Strategy in a Neuro-Intensive Care Unit
(2018)
author(s): Marie Koldkjær Højlund
published in: Journal of Sonic Studies
Nurses working in the Neuro-Intensive Care Unit at Aarhus University Hospital lack the tools to prepare children for the alarming atmosphere they will enter when visiting a hospitalised relative. The complex soundscape dominated by alarms and sounds from equipment is mentioned as the main stressor. As a response to this situation, our design artefact, the interactive furniture Kidkit, invites children to become accustomed to the alarming sounds sampled from the ward while they are waiting in the waiting room. Our design acknowledges how atmospheres emerge as temporal negotiations between the rhythms of the body and the environment in conjunction with our internalised perception of the habituated background. By actively controlling the sounds built into Kidkit, the child can habituate them through a process of synchronising them with her own bodily rhythms. Hereby the child can establish, in advance, a familiar relationship with the alarming sounds in the ward, enabling her to focus later more on the visit with the relative. The article discusses the proposed design strategy behind this solution and the potentiality for its use in hospital environments in general.
"Hope is a muscle tht allows us to connect"
(last edited: 2024)
author(s): Eleni Palogou and Tamara van der Laarse
This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
Inspired by Bjork's lyrics (Atopos), 'Hope is a muscle that allows us to connect,' Eleni and Tamara collaboratively shape this project. Treating hope as a resilient and adaptive muscle, they explore through photography, scenography, sound, music, and light. Nostalgically embracing childhood memories with a gentle retro vibe, they gently unveil enduring fragments of hope. Eleni Palogou, as a scenographer, weaves visual narratives, while Tamara, as a sound artist, complements the installation with an ambient sound piece crafted from various recordings of memories. Together, they enrich this exploration of quiet sources of hope that persist even in the darkest corners of our times.
Alexander Holm have been developing the artistic research project 'Sworld' on the APD program at RMC in Copenhagen 2021-2024. The project seeks to explore how simultaneous experience of sounds with- and without a visible cause can evoke human experiences of ghosts, absence and lost memories. The project researches and expands on composer and theorist Michel Chion's audio visual concept of Synch Points, examined through a versatile compositional praxis including choreography, text, voice, walks and live performance.open exposition comments (0)